Hachukma Script – Kokborok

Kokborok Language

Kokborok (also known as Tripuri or Tiprakok) is a Tibeto-Burman language spoken primarily in the Indian state of Tripura and neighbouring areas of Bangladesh, including the Chittagong and Sylhet divisions. The name Kokborok comes from kók meaning "verbal" or "language" and borok meaning "people" or "human".

According to the 2011 Census, there are approximately 1.3 million native speakers of Kokborok. In Tripura, the language is spoken by 880,537 people, accounting for 23.97% of the state's population. There are also about 320,000 speakers in Bangladesh. Kokborok is spoken by various indigenous communities across the region.

Kokborok was recognised as an official language of Tripura in 1979, and it has been taught in schools since the 1980s.

Ancient Roots

Kokborok is one of the ancient languages of Northeast India, with its existence attested since at least the 1st century AD. The earliest known writing in Kokborok dates from this period and was recorded in a script called Koloma.

Historical records of the Tripuri kings were written down in a book called the Rajratnakar or Rajmala using the Koloma script. From the 19th century, Kokborok was relegated to a common people's dialect during the rule of the Tripuri kings. In 1897, the first Kokborok grammar — Kokboroma by Daulat Ahmed — was written using the Bengali alphabet. Later, with the influence of British colonial administration and increased literacy efforts, Kokborok began to be written with the Latin (Roman) alphabet.

Today, Kokborok speakers predominantly use the Latin script, which has become the standard for education, literature, social media, and daily communication. The Bengali script is still used in some official and academic contexts, but the Latin script is the most widely adopted and practical writing system for the language. The Hachukma Script is a new neography, created to address the modern needs of the Kokborok-speaking community, combining cultural authenticity with digital adaptability and speed.

Direct Pictographs

The majority of Hachukma characters are direct pictographs — the visual form is taken directly from a physical object. Examples include:

•  /b/ — Buphang (death tree)
•  /d/ — Dangdol (bamboo clothesline)
•  /g/ — Golari (slingshot)
•  /k/ — Kowai-buphang (areca nut tree)
•  /t/ — Tok-thunta (woodpecker)
•  /w/ — Wa (bamboo)

These direct pictographs ensure strong mnemonic reinforcement, as the symbol and the object are one and the same.

Acrophonic Exception: Wasung (bamboo tube) is a direct pictograph (physical object), but it represents the final sound /ŋ/ rather than its initial /w/. This deliberate exception was made because the bamboo tube's visual form is beautiful and fast to write, and it neatly fits the phonological need for a final nasal.

Indirect Pictographs

For certain sounds, a direct pictograph based on a physical object was either unavailable or would have resulted in a character that was not beautiful or not fast to write. In these cases, Hachukma uses indirect pictographs — symbols derived from conceptual words or abstract ideas.

The indirect pictographs in this Kokborok script are:

•  /a/ — from Ang (self / "I")
•  /i/ — from aikha (morning)
•  /ch/ — from Chəng (we / "us")
•  /e/ — from imang (dream)
•  /ə/ — from rə (to give), representing its vowel sound

These abstract concepts provide meaningful, culturally resonant symbols that maintain the script's visual coherence and speed.

Selection of Pictographs — Only the Best Chosen

I began the creation of the Hachukma Kokborok script with an extensive exploration of Borok material culture. A wide range of potential pictographs — from tools, animals, plants, body parts, and daily objects — were sketched and evaluated. Through careful selection, only the most elegant and efficient forms were retained.

This careful selection ensures that every character is both culturally meaningful and exceptionally quick to write, without sacrificing aesthetic harmony.

Acrophonic Principle — Why an Alphabetic System?

The Hachukma Kokborok script follows the acrophonic principle, where each character derives its phonetic value from the initial sound of the object it depicts. This is a deliberate choice for three key reasons:

• Memorability. By linking each character to a familiar object — Golari (slingshot) for /g/, Dangdol (clothesline) for /d/, and so on — Hachukma leverages existing knowledge. A learner can recall the corresponding sound by remembering the object's name, making the entire Kokborok alphabet memorisable within a few weeks of regular practice (for example, 8–15 weeks), rather than decades.
• Technological compatibility. An alphabetic system uses a small, manageable set of characters — just 26 letters, 10 numerals, and a single diacritic. This minimal inventory is essential for digital processing, keyboard efficiency, and programming applications.

This is not a random design choice — it is a deliberate, practical decision to create a Kokborok script that is beautiful to write, easy to learn, and ready for the digital age.

Technology & Future Compatibility

The Hachukma Kokborok script was designed with technology and future digital applications in mind. Its alphabetic nature makes it inherently compatible with modern computing, programming languages, and digital communication systems.

The vision extends beyond writing. The script's systematic, phonemic structure makes it a strong candidate for Kokborok-based programming languages. Just as English and other languages have influenced programming syntax, Hachukma could enable native speakers to code in their own mother tongue, fostering computational thinking and technological sovereignty within the Tripuri community.

This compatibility with technology is not an afterthought — it is a core design consideration. Hachukma is not merely a writing system but a bridge between tradition and innovation, empowering the Borok people to participate fully in the digital future.

Historical Context: The Koloma Script

Kokborok, the language of the Tripuri people, is not without a history of indigenous writing. Historically, the Koloma script was used to write Kokborok, particularly within the royal palace of Tripura and among the literate elite. It was an integral part of the region's cultural and administrative heritage.

However, over the centuries — due to a gradual decline in active use — the Koloma script fell out of active use and has now vanished completely, surviving only in the memory of a few cultural scholars and in historical records.

The Hachukma Kokborok script is not a revival of Koloma. It is a new neography, created specifically to address the modern needs of the Kokborok-speaking community. By combining cultural authenticity with digital adaptability and speed, Hachukma offers a fresh, practical, and beautiful writing system that fills the gap left by the historical script while looking towards the future of the Borok people.

Design & Development

I oversaw a rigorous eight‑month development cycle (October 2025 – May 2026) focused on visual distinctiveness, cultural authenticity, and writing speed. I refined each character to minimise writing time while maintaining clear recognisability through iterative testing and feedback from native speakers.

During the research phase, an extensive survey of writing systems, neographies, and symbol sets was conducted. Throughout this process, I discovered that several Hachukma pictographic symbols unintentionally resembled characters found in other scripts and neographies, despite those writing systems not being pictographic in nature. To safeguard the originality and distinct visual identity of Hachukma, I systematically identified, eliminated, and redesigned these symbols. This rigorous refinement ensured that the final Kokborok alphabet preserved only the most visually distinctive, culturally authentic, and efficient pictographic symbols.

Design Principles

My design philosophy for the Hachukma Kokborok script is clear: create a writing system that is culturally authentic, visually beautiful, and exceptionally fast to write. This philosophy balances acrophonic logic with carefully chosen indirect pictographs — such as Ang (self) for /a/, aikha (morning) for /i/, and Chəng (we) for /ch/ — to ensure both aesthetic harmony and writing efficiency.

The result is a Kokborok script where each character is not a random shape but a meaningful visual distillation of Borok culture.